Birds and Nature

Yesterday after an appointment in Pueblo, I decided to tske a detour through Beulah, a small but neat town in western Pueblo County. Since I have found Beulah to be about the best place in southern Colorado for Lewis' Woodpecker, I was surprised to only find 6 Lewis' Woodpeckers. I was delighted to spot two Golden Eagles flying together, likely an adult showing it's offspring the best places to hunt. I also spent some time in Pueblo Mountain Park which is adjacent to Beulah. Though it is predominately ponderosa pine forest, it is a very pleasant location with nice birds. I saw this Broad-tailed Hummingbird, which is either a female or an immature, in one of those ponderosa pine tree. SeEtta

This is a male Broad-tailed Hummingbird showing it's characteristic bright red gorget. Broad-tailed Hummingbirds are quite common in the foothills in Colorado. This is another of the hummingbirds coming to my friend Connie's feeders in the Royal Gorge area, which is primarily pinyon-juniper habitat. Male Broad-tailed Hummingbird's dive displaying produces a loud buzzing noise from their wings making them easy to identify by sound. Contrasting with the male's bright red gorget, the female has a spotted throat as shown in the lower pic. Though the pics lose some resolution, double-clicking to enlarge them provides very close-up views. I think the females more subtle feather coloration is interesting. Also it looks almost like made stitches around her eye. SeEtta